Belts and back supports have been around for a considerable length of time and most recently, employers have come to recognize that it is important, from a safe workplace standpoint, to ensure that employees do not suffer on-the-job injuries for a myriad of reasons.
Literally thousands of manhours of labor are lost each year to workers incurring back injuries due to the nature of their work and the inappropriate conditioning of the workers taken in conjunction with the high demands made upon that worker's back. Various back supports have been suggested, some with and without suspenders, in order to attempt to overcome some of the difficulties normally encountered by a worker in the field.
Workers who must carry tools, for example, a carpenter, usually utilize pouches or the like having a loop at the upper portion thereof which permits placement of the pouch onto the belt for supported engagement about the waist of the carpenter. Some prior art devices have suggested the combination of such a belt with a back support in order to alleviate some of the strain and stress that a carpenter, for example, would incur on the job. Such belts and back support combinations have not been totally effective even when suspenders are utilized to help support the weight of the tools contained in the pouch inasmuch as the pouch has been allowed to be retained on the belt and back support by a loose configuration so that the pouch would move about the belt due to the carpenter's working activities.
In other instances, people who must carry substantial weights, such as, for example, coins in a slot machine gambling environment, in pockets or pouches provided on various belts have found it difficult to carry such loads in a fashion that permits ease of access and yet will not travel along the supporting belt about the waist of the wearer.
Having a supported pouch or container that is continuously moving or shifting about the waist of the worker such as a plumber, carpenter or electrician, creates several problems with respect to weight distribution and ease of access, not to mention mobility of the worker. Additionally, the conventional and ubiquitously found pouches being supported by a leather belt or the like has created difficulties in not being more porous to allow breathing or passage of the ambient atmosphere with regard to the wearer of the belt. That is, a heavy leather belt does not easily allow the passage of air or moisture therethrough, thereby making for an uncomfortable wearing situation for the wearer of the belt.
Additionally, where back support and tool pouch devices have been utilized, suspenders utilized to help defray the load from the hips and transfer to the shoulders have suffered in not being truly adjustable to the body of the user, and not being easily taken on and off by the wearer. Additionally, wearers/tradesmen depend on having easy access to tape measures, pencils and the like, as, for example, in a carpentry situation, these workmen have had to fumble to attain easy access to the tools immediately needed for the task at hand. Fumbling around in a pouch or looking for a rule and pencil has been time-consuming and counterproductive.
Currently available back support members and utility tool belt devices have not fulfilled all of the needs of various tradespeople who rely upon being able to have their tools and utensils at hand in ready fashion and further require that a back support or like member be easily put on and taken off, as well as providing for adequate support.
As exemplary of some of the prior art, a search of the U.S. Patent Office records was conducted and the following patents were uncovered by the search:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 2,910,804 White Nov. 03, 1959 2,976,541 Williams Mar. 28, 1961 3,963,157 Truax et al June 15, 1976 4,139,130 Glusker et al Feb. 13, 1979 4,166,557 Conley Sep. 04, 1979 4,472,839 Johansen Sep. 25, 1984 4,715,839 Ford et al Dec. 29, 1987 4,771,478 Bisagno et al Sep. 20, 1988 4,819,846 Hannemann Apr. 11, 1989 4,849,863 Gallegos July 18, 1989 5,027,442 Taylor July 02, 1991 5,040,524 Votel et al Aug. 20, 1991 5,081,719 Donnelly Jan. 21, 1992 5,148,549 Sydor Sep. 22, 1992 5,176,131 Votel et al Jan. 05, 1993 ______________________________________
A more in-depth description of each of the more pertinent patents follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,141
This Patent is directed to a back support. The back support 10 includes a waistband 11 having a left half 12 and a right half 13, and suspenders 25 secured to the top edge 12 and 13 of a waistband 11. Fabric members 19 and 20 are stitched to the outside of the right half 13 and left half 12, respectively, and hook material 21 is secured to the inside of the left half 12 for securing the back support on the wearer. Referring to FIG. 3, a tool belt 50 is attached to the waistband 11. A variety of carriers or attachments, such as a strap 55 or a pouch 56 may be attached to the belt 50.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,157
This Patent is directed to a ball belt. The ball belt comprises a waistband 1 and a plurality of holders or pouches 2 detachably mounted on the waistband 1. Any style fastener may be attached to each end of the waistband 1. The pouch is slidably mounted on the waistband.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,976,541
This Patent is directed to a utility belt. The utility belt 10 comprises a flexible strap 12 having fastening means attached at each end, a receptacle 17 and 23 slidably mounted on the strap 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,846
This patent is directed to a sportsman's belt. Referring to FIG. 2, the belt 1 has straps 6 of pad material provided on its free ends for releasably securing the belt on a wearer, and a plurality of pouches 2 secured to the belt 1 by pad strips 9 affixed to the belt and to the pouches. It should be noted that both the belt 1 and pouches 2 are provided with second pads and strips 8 assembled to the pouch which can be folded over to close it.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,557
This Patent is directed to a belt attaching hanger. The hanger attachment 10 is slidably mounted on a conventional belt 11 and is provided with a wire support 20. As shown in FIG. 5, a tape row 25 is secured to the wire support 20.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,130
This Patent is directed to a canteen belt. The canteen belt 10 has an envelope shaped pocket 12 formed by the two sides for belt 11 and 13 enclosed by flap 17, hook 16 and pawl 18 fasteners at the ends of the belt for securing the belt on a wearer, and a pawl mounting pad 20 located on the outside of the belt, a water storage pouch 32 contained with pocket 12, a mouthpiece assembly 49 for the water storage pouch 32. Mouthpiece assembly 49 is attached to the pawl mounting pad 20 where the former is not in use.